The second-longest signature sneaker line with one brand is set to release its 17th model in just a few days. I’ll give you one guess as to which athlete has the longest tenured signature model with the same brand. Lebron James and Nike unveiled the new Nike Lebron 17 just last week, and they are set to officially release September 27th with a retail price of $200.
Lead designer, Jason Petrie, is once again at the helm of designing the signature Lebron model, a task he has undertaken since the (now fan-favorite) Lebron 7. With Lebron’s size and strength it is no secret that he likes a good amount of impact protection when it comes to his own shoe. Whether it be full-length Air-Max cushioning, full-length Zoom, or combining Zoom and Air-Max, King James’ sneakers will be comfortable underfoot. The 17 is no different, sporting the largest volume Max Air unit ever on a Lebron signature model. Combined with the rear Max Air unit are two Zoom pods in the forefoot.
The Lebron 15 was the first shoe to introduce Battleknit, a beefed-up version of flyknit with more structure and support. The 16’s built on that and outfitted the uppers with Battleknit 2.0, a material similar to Battleknit but thicker and more structurally sound. The 17’s introduce yet another new material on the uppers, with Nike calling it “Knitposite.” Knitposite blends traditional Flyknit with heat-molded yarns and serves a purpose of more support in addition to more design options. Fans of the Lebron line initially have had good responses to the new 17’s, pointing out, and liking, that the overall shape resembles the Lebron 8.
The Lebron line has not seen the “reverse swoosh” used on the lateral side of the shoe since the 10’s. Sneaker connoisseurs have a love-hate relationship with Nike using reverse swooshes on sneakers, although it does seem to be working in this model’s favor. It definitely appears that we’ll finally get a true Lakers colorway to release to the general public, with the 16’s not having released any purple/yellow iterations during last season (no, the “Martin” colorway does not count). One big stipend amongst not only regular sneaker consumers of basketball shoes, but of sneakerheads, will be – but can the Lebron 17’s be rocked casually? Yes, we all know that current Nike athlete signature lines are performance FIRST, however, for them to be cool off the hardwood they have to look good with numerous outfits people can put together. We’ll leave that up to the sneakerheads and how they rock them, on if the Lebron 17’s will get the stamp of approval for looking good both on and off the court. Do you see yourself copping a pair when they come out? What colorways do you want to see released this season?
Today is Sunday, September 22. Officially the second day of fall, yes, and indeed another Sunday where the collective sporting world will turn its head to the game on the Gridiron for week 3 of the NFL season. So, how is today significant you ask?
It means we are a complete month away from the opening of the 2019-2020 NBA regular season.
And how swiftly the year has transcended into its final quarter. Throughout the past 3 months without pertinent NBA action, we’ve seen assemblies of league titans on teams who otherwise would not even be in consideration of a playoff spot prior to their arrival, and hefty factions of superstars and dynastic rosters dissipate and seek contention elsewhere.
We expect annual facelifts of the league’s infrastructure, but not to this extent. This wild offseason rivaled, or toppled, the zaniness of the 2016 offseason when the then-new Collective Bargaining Agreement was settled amongst the higher-ups. Cap space skyrocketed for just about all 30 clubs since then, and large deals sprinkled across the league were done in multitudes. We saw the defending and repeating champion Golde State Warriors lose both of their finals MVPs in Kevin Durant to Brooklyn, and Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies (or more than likely, elsewhere, pending his eventual buyout with Memphis).
We have seen the former Thunder Buddies reunite in H-Town as Russell Westbrook rejoins James Harden, and becomes the last piece of the original OKC big four to relocate to a new contender. The Utah Jazz scored big in June by acquiring some backcourt help for Donavan Mitchell by signing Mike Conley Jr., the Grizzlies’ all-time franchise leader in points. Aside from Kevin Durant, the Nets
And what was easily the loudest bombshell to drop in almost a decade, the city of Los Angeles has become the nexus of all championship hopes in just a couple of months, with the new-look Clippers, after aligning together the fearsome tandem of 2-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, look to do battle with the new-look Lakers who picked up disgruntled all-star Anthony Davis via a requested trade from New Orleans.
Every roster across the league looks significantly different, as they should every year. Yet, with the roster overhauls stemming from this offseason, expectations for up-and-coming franchises are coming into fruition, regardless of a rebuilding season or playoff push.
With that in mind, We here at SneakerReporter are making a list of the top 30 teams ranked from worst to best, and for today and the next 29 days, see where your favorite team makes it on the countdown.
30. Charlotte Hornets (12-70) – With Their Lone Superstar Departed, Charlotte Must Rebuild
Hornets fans: do yourself a favor and really curb your expectations (as if you were not doing that already).
There is little to no reason to have any optimistic belief about the capabilities of a roster now without their all-star guard and only reliable piece of offense that can have plays drawn up for. Hornets owner Michael Jordan refused to offer him the max in persuading him to stay in Charlotte, and now Kemba Walker is in Boston and is now on the most talented roster he has been on since his UCONN days.
It is unfathomable to view any pragmatic solution to the firestorm that is Hornets basketball at the moment. Sure, therein lies the athletic prowess of Miles Bridges, who could make a major leap in 2019 to be viewed as the No.1 guy Hornets coach James Borrego can depend on.
And then there is always the curious case of a certain Nicolas Batum, who posted his most efficient numbers in the league since 2014. So, there is a venerable case to be made regarding his ascension to his Portland form, but still plenty of reason to believe that he just does not have the intangibles to perform at his highest level anymore.
Last season, Batum averaged 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 31.4 minutes. His efficiency was much higher than usual, shooting 45 percent overall and 39 percent from deep. It was his lowest scoring average since his rookie season in 2008, but his highest efficiency since his second-to-last season with the Trailblazers.
Granted, this is a team that just missed the very cusp of competing in the postseason back in April, losing their playoff spot to the 8th seeded Detroit Pistons by a measly two games. And the obvious factor worth the mention: Kemba Walker was there. Also, Jeremy Lamb is headed to Indiana to strengthen their already strong backcourt composed of Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon. Those are 40 points a game (or more) subtracted from their offensive effort, making the Hornets attack that much more inept.
Taking his place is the former Boston backup guard Terry Rozier, widely dubbed “Scary Terry”. It may not be quite the picture-perfect fill-in for the three-time all-star and All-NBA Third Team selection, but it is something to work with.
Rozier finished 2018 averaging 9 points per game off 38.7 percent shooting from the field while coming off the bench. Rozier’s best numbers came in the 2017-2018 postseason as the Celtics were only a game away from advancing to the NBA Finals, though LeBron James’ Cavaliers had something to say about Boston’s title aspirations last year.
His exodus from Boston ended abruptly amidst publicized locker-room dysfunction and media speculation, but the past is in the past, so he says. Rozier brings substantial postseason experience and now has the opportunity to be what he has theorized himself to be: a go-to franchise point guard that can have an entire offense ran through his ball-handling, tenacity and scoring skillset.
The Hornets had a decent, not great, draft back in June, selecting Kentucky guard PJ Washington 12th overall in the first round. The 21-year-old initially tested the NBA Draft process last year. However, after learning that he was not likely to be picked in the first round, Washington returned to Kentucky for his sophomore season and vowed to become a better player.
The thing is, he became better. Washington went from averaging 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds as a freshman to averaging 15.2 points and 7.5 as a sophomore. He made vast strides in his ability to both score from, and defend, the perimeter with his 6’7, 227-lb frame, and his impressive 7’2.5 wingspan, as well as bolster his ball-handling and rebounding. I mean, he knocked down 42 percent of his threes in his final year as a Wildcat, which almost seamlessly meshes with today’s conversation of how to develop into today’s ideal pick n’ pop stretch big.
Washington was a safe pick, a low-risk-and-high-reward selection for Charlotte, but if he lives up to or defies expectations of his draft stock, the combination of an uber-athletic Bridges-Washington frontcourt could be a vehemence to develop in the Hornets’ future.
The Hornets are a young team with potential. Sounds cliche’? That’s because that is all they are at the moment. And that is not a bad thing. With a bench including the likes of Cody Martin from Nevada, veterans Malik Monk, and Devonte’ Graham, do not expect Charlotte to make any noise in the East for years to come, as the development of their prospective pieces will tell the story.
It is increasingly evident the Hornets finish in the lower tier of Eastern conference contention this year and the ensuing years in the path to becoming a lottery pick team, but it is all a part of a process, or so Hornets fans hope.
Former All-NBA player & 7x All-Star Joe Johnson seems to be very close to an NBA return. The 38 year old Small Forward underwent a huge resurgence in the Big3 league this summer becoming the league’s MVP & winning the championship.
Several teams had been eyeing him but recent reports show that the Pistons seem to be the clear favorites to land him. “From what I’m hearing, Detroit is the favorite to land Joe Johnson,” Frank Isola of The Athletic said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
Johnson is a high volume scorer and can help the Pistons add some more firepower to their already loaded bench. Johnson has averaged a career 16 PPG over his 17 seasons in the NBA. The Pistons would be very wise to add the veteran forward to their roster. He’s hungry and he’s got something to prove this season.
It had been 58 international competitions that the Team USA Basketball program competed and won, and to the rest of the world, it seemed like a lone formality to let the USA’s NBA-riddled roster to run amuck on its opposition. International games were perceived as proverbial NBA showcases with All-NBA First Team members usually decimating whatever country they faced, as the USA often finished winning those matchups by double-digit margins.
And they just lost their first international competition in those 58 outings against a heavily-touted French National Team by 10 points during the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup. Their best player and one of the two all-stars, Kemba Walker, scored only 10 points on 22% shooting. While guarded by Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina who has struggled to assert himself as a worthy first-round selection in his short time in the NBA. Not quite a good look.
Maligned by a sparse majority of biased prognosticators on social media and from a few news media outlets, Team USA Basketball – or as some called them the “Team USA Celtics” as about one-fourth of the roster contained Celtic teammates – received a lot of unwarranted criticism as the roster was significantly more inept than previous World Cup and Olympic teams.
And yet, Team USA won all of its group stage games by wide margins, largely in part to the high scoring of Donovan Mitchell, but more so the defensive prowess of Marcus Smart, the versatility of a Jayson Tatum and athleticism and potential of a Jaylen Brown.
While Smart provided his contribution of 11 points and Jaylen Brown scored 9 in the loss, there are both validities for optimism of the Celtics’ young core of Tatum (who did not play due to a left sprained ankle) and Brown who will both see an increase of touches and drawn-up plays this upcoming season, and concern for how well, or if, the Celtics are able to seamlessly mesh and score the ball consistently with Kemba being in the same pressurized, media-ridden position that made Kyrie Irving want to flee to Brooklyn.
When looking at the Celtics core next season after getting a short preview this summer from the new Boston big four, you could see that there is a reason for Celtics fans to be excited about what they will witness this year. Yet, their success is incumbent on the quartet’s consistency and chemistry once the real competition begins, and how they stack up defensively against a saturated Eastern conference.
On an overall examination of Kemba’s first visible impact with his new teammates during team USA’s efforts in the World Cup, his game on Wednesday were not an accurate reflection of his effect on the floor. Though limited to his lowest scoring output of the tournament, Kemba accumulated a total of 83 points throughout the tournament while averaging a little over 13 PPG with another game against Serbia in the coming days. Similar to Kyrie, his ability to create off the dribble while being a playmaker in opening the floor in the halfcourt will be a key component of Boston’s success.
Looking Ahead At The Future Of USA Basketball
It is no secret this World Cup displayed a talent-deficient and uncharacteristically-inexperienced team compared to its predecessors that were awash with gold-medal accolades and spotless records. The United States’ participation in the FIBA World Cup has almost always featured at least five, or six, NBA All-Stars that were unanimously dubbed the most dominant in their position.
To USA Basketball, winning the World Cup was as easy as getting the Sunday paper from off the front porch. Now, add in the fears of injury during inconvenient times of approaching seasons, and what you may have are lackluster rosters with little to no all-star talent.
A shocking revelation? An inconceivable, unbecoming occurrence to the most esteemed basketball development program on the planet? Both points hold water.
I mean, it was a non-issue back during the 2014 FIBA World Cup, back when both the Splash Brothers, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, James Harden, and other league titans suited up for the World Cup without hesitation.
Diffident perceptions and anxieties have arisen from the likes of the league’s best American-born players, seeing the likelihood of a Paul George-Esque injury becoming reality, and their claims have validity. Obviously, next summer will be a completely different story as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics roll around, and Team USA’s roster will see its four-year influx of superstars donning the red, white and blue in what may be the most intimidating roster that USA Basketball will ever put out.
It is not a new trend for franchise cornerpieces to pull out of international competition, as their health and recovery in time for training camp have always been viable factors in their decision making.
But one can only wonder, can this increasingly-apparent fad be the future fate of USA Basketball, where the league’s most outstanding players will opt out of playing for their country in favor of conditioning for an upcoming season, leaving the difficult task of beating the world’s best to reserves who otherwise would not even be considered to be bench pieces on an Olympic roster?
The jury is still on the fence as to whether NBA superstars should be obligated to take to the court for their native land as notable NBA standouts of different nationalities compete to their heart’s content for theirs.
Most notably, the current league’s Most Valuable Player and the 5th person in league history to win the award as a foreigner, Giannis Antetokounmpo played all World Cup games for his native Greece, whereas former league MVPs and superstars like James Harden, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook choose to not represent their country by playing on the world’s largest stage.
And on that topic, are we forgetting that just a little under a month ago, the Women’s National Soccer Team and the best female players on the planet (while heavily favored) gave their all to win their fourth world cup in a grueling, three-week tournament that showcased the best footballers in the world, all while returning to play in dually competitive fixtures such as the National Women’s Soccer League just days later?
Sure, consider it a factor of unimportance, citing this as just “another World Cup” to guys who are only making sure their bodies are in tip-top shape for another year.
Yet their lies an underlying fear that is festering in the minds of those who want to see their country succeed at the highest level. Fans can only hope that this trend of superstars planning not to play in World Cups will be short-lived and not a repetitive occurrence, to the point where they question if the league’s most prominent players apprehend to place value an Olympic Gold Medal over large quantities of money and “rest”.
Detroit Pistons guard Derrick Rose sat down with Stephen A. Smith on his radio show “The Stephen A. Smith Show” to discuss his legacy, his new autobiography, & his career so far in the league. Derrick Rose was quoted saying:
“I am a Hall of Famer. Not in everybody’s eyes but to the people that I grew up with. Like I made it. Imagine like being 12 or 13 & everywhere you go people are like putting like their burdens on you like man you’re gonna be the one to make it…I got through it.”
The Chicago bornpoint guardhasdefinitely beenthroughhisfair share ofupsanddowns in his career.He’sunderwent 4 kneesurgeriesafter becoming the youngest league MVP at 22yearsold.Derrick Rose speaks on hisfans thathave stuck with himthroughall of his challenges:
“I have a huge fan base. Everywhere I go I have people that relate to me or just get a feeling or a vibe from me from someway somehow. And I never opened up to anyone like the way that I did (with the documentary). I’m giving you a book so you’ll be able to read it.“
Despite many critics writing the veteran guard off, he was still able toaverage18.0points last season on 4.3 assists, whichisthe highest PPGhe’saveraged since his MVP season.TheEnglewood native also recently received praises fromhisnewhead coachDwane Casey:
“Former MVP. Still has it. Still has jets in his tank….Still can get to where he wants to go”
Hopefully this season can be another career seasonfortheformerMVPand he can continue to keep adding on to his legacy.
With a fairly early exit in the second round of last year’s 2018-2019 NBA Playoffs to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics, like many other teams around the league, have made drastic changes to their roster for the upcoming season. The organization has shifted its focus from the Kyrie Irving era to a new, and hopefully improved, route in notable acquisitions in Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter as well as shifting sights toward continuing to develop the young core the team already has. The team has also found some luck regarding their draft this season with names like Carsen Edwards out of Purdue and the biggest name coming from Central Florida in Tacko Fall. There were many questions raised throughout the course of last season, and with the new roster perhaps many of said questions may be answered.
With the Kyrie Irving era of Celtics’ basketball has come to a conclusion, a new chapter opens with Kemba Walker at the helm of it all at the point guard position. Walker has always been a solid point guard throughout his time with the Hornets. He averaged 25.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game last season, just barely making the NBA Playoffs as the 9th seed with a record of 39-43. This should serve as a solid testament for Walker, for over the course of his time with the Hornets, the roster he was surrounded by was adequate at best. He has always been most known for his ability to score the ball, which although is obviously a very important aspect of the game, is something he won’t have to potentially worry about alone as opposed to before. But the one thing Walker really needed was more reliable scoring from his team, which he can now get from a multitude of different options on this Celtics roster.
Although Irving may have been the biggest name in Free Agency for the Celtics, fans also learned that Center Al Horford would be signing to Eastern Conference rival in the Philidelphia 76ers. Despite such a loss, the organization have found themselves acquiring notable big Enes Kanter of the Portland Trailblazers. Kanter has really come into his own form these past few seasons, being known for the effort he plays with inside the paint, averaging 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. There is, however, a blatant disparity between Horford and Kanter. Horford has been more of a stretch big for the Celtics with a 3-PT percentage of 36% last season while Kanter doesn’t share the same play style, shooting a mere 25% from 3-PT last season. However, Kanter may potentially be a better fit within this system now with the way the roster is set up, playing as a more true big rather than today’s common stretch big.
With the rookie signings coming to its conclusions, teams have selected who they’ll be choosing to further develop alongside the rest of their rosters. The Celtics have chosen to sign Carsen Edwards, a point guard who made a strong case for himself in the NBA Summer League this year alongside 7’7″ Center Tacko Fall, the tallest NBA player in the league ahead of recently acquire Dallas Center in Boban Marjanovic listed at 7′ 3.5″.
Despite all the signings the Celtics made this offseason, the young core that the team has is brings much excitement to Celtics fans worldwide. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart are big names that still remain in Boston, which within itself is an impressive group. Smart finds himself being the one point guard remaining of the three last season in Rozier and Irving, where there was a lot of questions of how they were balancing play time between all of them. With Smart having his role solidified as a spark off the bench behind Kemba, his focus has fully shifted to just that. Tatum, Brown, and Hayward have been a core to be reckoned with since they’ve come together. They’re each interchangeable providing for their team all in different ways, as well as being able to be shifted from a multitude of positions, relieving any minutes issues that may arise. The more time they get time to develop, the scarier it becomes for the rest of the league.
